Governor Hochul Announces Availability of $7.5 Million for Opioid Treatment Programs

Governor Kathy Hochul on January 20 announced the 

availability of up to $7.5 million for state-certified providers and other treatment programs to establish low threshold buprenorphine services to address opioid addiction and save lives. Administered by the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, the grants will be the first to tap New York State's Opioid Settlement Fund and will help develop up to 15 programs offering this safe, effective treatment for opioid use disorder. Read more here.

Related: Opioid Use Disorders Cost U.S. Hospitals More than $95 Billion Annually

Mother Cabrini Health Foundation Grants $165M to Organizations throughout New York

The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation on Monday announced it has awarded 538 grants totaling $165 million to support nonprofit organizations addressing the health-related needs of low-income residents and underserved communities across New York State in 2023. In the four years since its inception, the Foundation has now awarded approximately 2,200 grants totaling nearly $635 million. Newly funded grantee initiatives will target New York’s evolving needs by expanding access to food, education, support for mental health, as well as access to healthcare and social services. Read more here.

Governor Hochul Announces More than $390 Million in Financing to Build More than 1,600 Affordable and Supportive Homes Across NYS

Governor Kathy Hochul on January 19 announced more than $390 million has been awarded through bonds and subsidies to create or preserve more than 1,600 affordable, sustainable, and supportive homes across the state. When coupled with additional private funding and resources, the ten projects receiving funding are expected to create more than $600 million in overall investment that will assist local economic development efforts and advance New York's commitment to expanding the supply of safe, secure, and healthy housing opportunities for individuals and families across the state. Read more here.

How Long are ER Wait Times for Mental Health Patients in NY? Check Your Local Hospital

Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul pointed to New York's long waits for psychiatric hospital beds as a reason to spend $1 billion from the state budget to overhaul the state's mental health care system. Some New Yorkers have reported being stuck for days waiting in emergency rooms before getting the proper level of mental health care. But state officials could not provide further details about average wait times for psychiatric beds because they don't track that information. Read more here.

Related: Albany Med's CEO and Governor Hochul weigh in on ER wait times

988 Sustainability Depends on Healthcare Insurers Paying Their Fair Share

A push for behavioral health parity, where insurance companies provide equal treatment for mental health and substance use services as physical ones, isn’t new. However, inequality between the two has increasingly garnered attention from federal and state leaders. Awareness that Arlene Stephenson, senior advisor at the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), says likely grew because of rising behavioral health needs during the pandemic and implementing 988—the three-digit number for mental health, suicide, and substance use crises—and corresponding 988 crisis systems. Read more here.

Related: A Year to Prepare – Organizers Work to Ensure 988 Helps Rural Residents Too

How Five Jurisdictions Are Rethinking Crisis Response with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

Filling the Gaps in the Behavioral Health Workforce

The United States faces a growing shortage of licensed behavioral health care specialists—psychiatrists, psychologists, and clinical social workers—and that shortage comes at a time when rates of mental illness and substance use disorder (SUD) are high and rising. The shortage has severely limited access to treatment, particularly among underserved communities. To help address the access gap, federal policymakers should take steps to foster a behavioral health workforce that extends beyond licensed professionals.

Through regulation and legislation, policymakers and lawmakers should build on previous modest steps in two areas. Read more here.

Related: Five Things to Know about the Care Workforce

How to fix the mental health workforce? WA has an underutilized resource: peer counselors

SAVE Releases 2021 US Suicide Data Sheet

SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education) released the US Suicide 2021 Data Sheet as the host of the annually released national suicide data. The 2021 data on suicide in America shows an increase in the numbers and rate of suicide. The national data sheet released annually by SAVE.org comes from data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics in a simplified format created to help the public, media and those involved in the suicide prevention community. Read more here.

Related: Public records assist model’s prediction of suicide risk after psychiatric hospitalization

BHN Winter 2023 Issue Released

The Behavioral Health News (BHN) Winter 2023 issue focuses on "The Impact of Behavioral Health on Families." To read the publication, click here.

Recently Announced SAMHSA Funding Opportunities

Community Programs for Outreach and Intervention with Youth and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis

Adult Reentry Program

Grants to Expand Substance Use Disorder Treatment Capacity in Adult and Family Treatment Drug Courts

First Responders – Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act

FY 2023 Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health

Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals

Improving Access to Overdose Treatment

Medication-Assisted Treatment – Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction

Managed Care Plans, States Can Now Text Medicaid Beneficiaries to Warn of Enrollment Changes

Managed care plans and states can now deliver robocalls and texts to Medicaid beneficiaries without fear of violating a federal law, a critical change as states face eligibility redeterminations in a few months. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released new guidance Tuesday on the change after getting a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) back in April 2022. States and managed care plans face a looming April 1 deadline to start redetermining the eligibility of everyone on Medicaid. Read more here.

Related: 6.8 million expected to lose Medicaid when paperwork hurdles return

KFF Brief: What Happens After People Lose Medicaid Coverage?

KFF: Medicaid - What to Watch in 2023

CATTARAUGUS: Cattaraugus County Community Services director hopeful about governor's mental health vow

CHAUTAUQUA: Western NY man follows in his father's dangerous footsteps of addiction, long road to recovery

CHAUTAUQUA: County may have highest ‘opioid burden’

COLUMBIA: Panel eyes wellness hub for Hudson

FRANKLIN: Saint Regis Mohawk Health Services selects new mental health director

GENESEE: Behavioral specialist urges ‘person-first approach’ to mitigate effects of substance use disorder stigma

JEFFERSON: Jefferson County's homelessness committee announces recommendations for local solutions

MONROE: Monroe County Executive Adam Bello Announces First Communitywide Opioid/Fentanyl Data Center With a Focus on Saving Lives

MONROE: Monroe Co. recommends $5 mil. settlement in opioid lawsuit

NASSAU: Nassau County police warn of recent increase in opioid overdoses

NYC: Trainings begin at NYC bars receiving supply of life-saving Narcan

NYC: Mental Health Courts Operate With Compassion

ONONDAGA: Onondaga Community College receives $2 million for new healthcare training center

RENSSELAER: St. Anne Institute celebrates expansion in Troy

SARATOGA: Saratoga County offers overdose rescue kits and training to aid the Opioid crisis

SCHUYLER: Schuyler County to Receive $116K From Opioid Lawsuit Settlement

SOUTHERN TIER: Southern Tier counties are deciding how to spend their opioid settlement money

ST. LAWRENCE: New website to address mental health at Massena Central School District

SULLIVAN: New push in Sullivan County to reach veterans battling addiction

WESTCHESTER: Misdemeanor mental health court launches in Westchester

DDPC Announces Partnerships to Improve Services for People with Dual Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health Diagnoses

The New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council is pleased to announce $3 million in grant funding for two five-year pilot projects to address the unique and co-existing needs of New Yorkers with developmental disabilities experiencing mental health challenges. The two DDPC funded grants are in partnership with the Office of Mental Health, the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, and the University of Rochester Medical Center to provide medical staff, families, and people with developmental disabilities more resources and tools to respond in a mental health crisis. Read more here.

New Federal Guidance Improves Access to Opioid Treatment in County Jails

Two new reports from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) offer guidance on improving the provision of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders (OUD) in correctional facilities as well as clarifies disability protections of people on MAT for OUD. ONDCP released the first-ever federal guidance

to help correctional facilities evaluate their medication-assisted treatment programs with the goal of expanding access across the country. Read more here.

Related: NACo Brief - Effective Treatment for for Opioid Use Disorder for Incarcerated Populations

Increased Overdose Risk Among Previously Incarcerated With Opioid, Stimulant Use Disorders

Why One State Is Pushing Back Against Medicaid’s IMD Exclusion

New York state hopes to strengthen and remake state-managed behavioral health care by getting around the so-called IMD exclusion. It’s doing so by securing federal Medicaid funds typically forbidden from covering facility-based behavioral health through its latest 1115 waiver amendment. On Jan. 5, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced New York applied for a waiver to Medicaid’s now-antiquated institution for mental disease (IMD) exclusion. New York has asked for federal matching funds for Medicaid to be allowed to cover IMD services to address serious mental illness (SMI), substance use disorder (SUD) and serious emotional disturbance (SED) for adults and children. Read more here.

Student Mental Health is Top Concern of School Board Members According to a New National Survey

5 Opportunities and Challenges in Efforts to Boost Health Equity

Can the Right Kind of Tech Help Address the Mental Health Crisis Among LGBTQ+ Youth?

Ophelia’s Provocative Opioid Use Disorder Marketing Campaign Will Turn Heads. But Will It Work?

Buprenorphine deaths did not increase despite wider access during pandemic, study shows

UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS

Roundtable 2: The Experience of Mental Health Stigma Among Diverse Groups

January 26, 2 - 3 pm, OMH & Behavioral Health News

County Strategies to Recruit and Retain a Strong Behavioral Health Workforce

January 26, 2 - 3 pm, NACo

Harm Reduction Office Hours Series for OASAS Providers

January 26, 2 - 3:30 pm, OASAS

An aging undocumented population: Implications for complex care and communities

January 26, 3 - 4 pm, Camden Coalition

Change Management through Data-Informed Decision Making

January 30, 1 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

Where to Start: Getting Access to PSYCKES

January 31, 11 am - 12 pm, OMH

Recruitment and Retention of African American Males in the Mental Health and Substance Use Workforce: View from the Field

February 1, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

Reducing Jail Populations: Revisiting Technical Violations of Community Supervision to Decrease Jail

February 2, 2 - 3 pm, NACo

The Continuum of Care: Innovative Solutions for Addressing Complex Behavioral Health Needs

February 2, 2 - 3 pm, Behavioral Health Business

Investigation Basics for OASAS Provider Staff

February 6, 9 am - 12 pm, NYS Justice Center

NYS OMH DFS Spotlight of Innovative Diversion Services

February 8, 10:30 am - 12 pm, OMH Division of Forensic Services

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Plus – Building a Culture of Inclusion

February 8, 1 - 2 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

Protecting Consumer Health Data: FTC and State Actions to Close the Privacy Gap

February 8, 2 - 3 pm, Manatt Health

The Art of Talking to Teens about Substance Use

February 8, 8 - 9 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

Cancer and Mental Wellbeing Education Series: Building Partnerships Between Cancer Centers and Mental Health/Substance Use Treatment Facilities

February 9, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

Harm Reduction Services in the United State: A State of the Union

February 9, 12 - 1 pm, The Action Lab at Northeastern

Data-Informed Care and Advocacy in Addiction Treatment

February 9, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

Navigating PSYCKES Recipient Search for Population Health

February 9, 2 - 3 pm, OMH

The Opioid Crisis: Disrupting the Status Quo with the HEALing Communities Study

February 14, 2 - 3 pm, NIMH

Using the PSYCKES Clinical Summary

February 15, 3 - 4:30 pm, OMH

Mitigating Safety and Risk for Children Affected by Parental Substance Use Disorders Involved in the Child Welfare System

February 16, 1 - 2 pm, NCSACW

Introductory/Refresher Virtual YSBIRT Training

February 28, 2 - 5 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

Introductory/Refresher Virtual SBIRT Training

March 6, 2 - 5 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Public Safety-led Overdose Prevention in Black, Indigenous and People of Color Communities

March 8, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Mental Wellbeing

CLMHD CALENDAR

FEBRUARY

Executive Committee Meeting

February 1: 8 - 9 am

AOT Coordinators Call

February 7: 10 - 11:30 am

LGU Billing Staff Call

February 7: 11 am - 12 pm

Addiction Services & Recovery Committee Meeting

February 9: 11 am - 12 pm

Developmental Disabilities Committee Meeting

February 9: 1 - 2:30 pm

Mental Health Committee Meeting

February 9: 3 - 4 pm

LGU Clinic Operators Call

February 14: 10 - 11:30 am

CLMHD Membership Call

February 15: 9 - 10:30 am

Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Meeting

February 16: 1 - 3 pm

CLMHD Office Closed - Presidents Day

February 20

Children & Families Committee Meeting

February 21: 11:30 am - 1 pm